Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Reading between the lines in AFP "Christmas in Gaza" story

From AFP:

For most of Gaza's tiny community of some 3,500 Christians, 85 percent of whom are Greek Orthodox, they must make do with celebrating at home after failing to obtain the small slip of paper issued by Israel which would have allowed them to leave the enclave and travel the 70 kilometres (43 miles) to Bethlehem.

Abdullah Jakhan is one of them.

He and his fiancee Janet applied to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem, but they were both turned down. Now they will have to make do in Gaza.

Just four months after the end of the war, it would be inappropriate to engage in too much celebration, Jakhan says.

"We want a joyful celebration, but the blood of the martyrs which flowed during the war is still fresh. Because of this we can't be completely happy," he tells AFP.

Somehow, the memory of the "blood of the martyrs" didn't stop Hamas from holding a huge anniversary celebration.

This is the tenor for most of the article. Then, at the very end:

But other concerns also feature at the top of their prayer list.

George, 38, who prefers not to give his family name, is praying for an end to Islamic extremism and attacks on Christians.

"Even if there aren't many of them, like those in the Islamic State movement, they don't want us to celebrate our Christian feasts," he says.

"And they wouldn't hesitate to attack us, as they have already done," he adds, referring to an incident in February when unidentified attackers left an explosive device inside the compound of the Church of the Latin Convent in Gaza City.

AFP wrote an anti-Israel piece where they threw in some information about how Hamas isn't very Christian-friendly as a lame attempt at "balance."

But note that the people who blame Israel are quite proud to use their names, while those who want to talk about how Hamas and Muslim extremists are singling out Christians for persecution refuse to bw identified.

Which means that when Gazans speak to reporters, they will overwhelmingly say only things that Hamas wants them to say. And the coverage will reflect that, as it does in this story.

Any journalist who doesn't try to compensate for this simple fact when reporting from Gaza, and instead allows Hamas intimidation to drive the focus of his or her stories, is not a journalist.

(h/t Gidon Shaviv)

From TOI:

In the run-up to the French parliament’s vote urging the government to recognize Palestine on December 2, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced a two-year deadline for the successful conclusion of peace negotiations, after which France would recognize a Palestinian state.

“We do not want a symbolic recognition of a virtual state,” Fabius told French lawmakers on November 28, just days before the vote. “We want a real Palestinian state.”

This is happening immediately after Abbas told France to go to hell in its attempt to make the doomed UN resolution more palatable to the EU:

The draft as the Palestinians submitted it last Wednesday, via the Jordanians, is so far from the international consensus on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that the Americans will have no choice but to veto it. The spokesperson of the US State Department, Jen Psaki, made plain last week that Washington will not support the draft as it currently reads. Even the French would not back this text, the European diplomat said.

“The Palestinian text is absurd,” the diplomat opined. “It’s purely a Palestinian wishlist — it doesn’t fly at all.”

France, Germany and Britain — the so-called E3 — offered to work with the Palestinians on a draft that would be acceptable to them and that could have ostensibly garnered American support as well. “The French,” who are leading the E3 effort, “wanted to give the Palestinians something, so they wrote a resolution that everyone could get on board with,” the diplomat said.

But the draft the Palestinians submitted last week is “very different” from the E3’s text, the diplomat noted.

It also comes as more details come out on how Abbas torpedoed the last negotiations:

On March 17, in a meeting in Washington, President Obama presented Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, with a long-awaited American framework for an agreement that set out the administration’s views on major issues, including borders, security, settlements, Palestinian refugees and Jerusalem.

Livni considered it a fair framework, and Netanyahu had indicated willingness to proceed on the basis of it while saying he had reservations. But Abbas declined to give an answer in what his senior negotiator, Saeb Erekat, later described as a “difficult” meeting with Obama. Abbas remained evasive on the framework, which was never made public.

This, in Livni’s view, amounted to an important opportunity missed by the Palestinians, not least because to get Netanyahu’s acceptance of a negotiation on the basis of the 1967 borders with agreed-upon swaps — an idea Obama embraced in 2011 — would have indicated a major shift.

Still, prodded by Secretary of State John Kerry, talks went on. On April 1, things had advanced far enough for the Israeli government to prepare a draft statement saying that a last tranche of several hundred Palestinian prisoners would be released; the United States would free Jonathan Pollard, an American convicted of spying for Israel more than 25 years ago; and the negotiations would continue beyond the April 29 deadline with a slowdown or freeze of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Then, Livni said, she looked up at a television as she awaited a cabinet meeting and saw Abbas signing letters as part of a process to join 15 international agencies — something he had said he would not do before the deadline.

She called Erekat and told him to stop the Palestinian move. He texted her the next day to say he couldn’t.

The French are telling Abbas that he can act however he wants; he can even disrespect them - they will reward him anyway.

What great incentive he has to negotiate!

(h/t David G)

Jordanian Fatwa Department condemns sheikh who said Jews should worship on Temple Mount

A few days ago, as MEMRI reported, Jordanian preacher Sheik Yassin Al-'Ajlouni said that Jews should be given a place of worship on the Temple Mount.

Sheikh Yassin Al-'Ajlouni: I have given a lot of thought into what I am about to say, because I know that it is the most important issue of our times, and that whoever talks about it is likely to face severe criticism, and will be accused of generating controversy and maybe even strife. Do the Israelites have the right to pray in Beit Al-Maqdis? Is it permissible to allocate a place of worship in Beit Al-Maqdis for the Israelites?

When Omar Ibn Al-Khattab entered Beit Al-Maqdis, he encountered a place of worship dedicated for those Israelites who were Christians. This place, called the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, was built in the days of Emperor Constantine. Omar left this place, in which the Christian Israelites prayed, intact. He did not take it away from them.

[…]

The place where Omar Ibn Al-Khattab prayed was named the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but the truth is that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is not the Mosque of Omar, but the entire area within the old walls, which is called Beit Al-Maqdis. I call upon the Islamic world and upon the Hashemite sovereign to allocate for the peaceful among the Jewish Israelites a house of prayer within Beit Al-Maqdis.

Beit Al-Maqdis is the place sanctified by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, as well as by Jesus son of Mary and by the Muslims. There should be a special place of worship for the Jews among the Israelites under Hashemite and Palestinian sovereignty, and in agreement with the Israeli regime. Guarding the place and the comings and goings will be under Hashemite control and sovereignty. This by no means entails the harming the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Part of the courtyard, where there are trees, will be allocated for the prayer of the Israelites.

I officially call upon the religious ruling authorities in Palestine and Jordan to issue a fatwa that will clarify their religious position regarding the building of a place of worship dedicated for the Israelite Jews. Allah's prayers and blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad and his companions.

Well, they clairified their position all right.

The Jordanian Iftaa Department (yes, there is such a thing) slammed al-'Ajlouni in no uncertain terms, without deigning to mention his name. It said that his ruling was "issued by a person with no legitimacy, and does not represent any legitimate viewpoint, nor has any consideration of all Islamic sects" and called him "ignorant." It stressed that the entire Temple Mount and surrounding area (including, of course, the Western Wall and its plaza) were all equally sacred to Muslims and all considered to be part of the Al Aqsa Mosque complex.

The fatwa added that Omar bin Khattab had a history of mercy and justice and fairness towards non-Muslims, but at the same time safeguarded the Islamic Waqf not to add any places of worship for non-Muslims in it, while he magnanimously allowed existing churches to remain at that time on their own non-Waqf soil. (If you had a pre-existing Temple or church on soil that Muslims afterwards claim as holy, then their idea of tolerance towards you evaporates quite quickly.)

The statement concludes that al-'Ajlouni's statement has "has no value from the legal, religious or historical perspective" and that they will take legal action against him.

This response has been published in dozens of Arab newspapers.

Chanukah night 8 bonus video: It's Chanukah Night! Lenny Solomon and Etan G

12/23 Links Pt2: The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards; Why the Gaza War Correspondents Won

From Ian:

The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards

Scarlett Johansson’s brave stand against Israel-bashers seems so long ago. With three teenagers kidnapped and murdered, a Gaza war, violence in Jerusalem, an escalating tug of war over the Temple Mount, and unilateral PA efforts in the UN, Israelis will be glad 2014 is over.
Don’t forget the rise of ISIS, Iranian tensions, and frayed ties with the US.
For the first time, we decided to set aside the readers’ choice for the 2014 Dishonest Reporter. We believe readers will agree. More on that below.
We thank everyone for sharing their thoughts on the roller coaster that was 2014. And so, without further ado . . .
The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards
1. The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Award Winner: Gaza War Correspondents
2. Dishonest Reporting Award (People’s Choice): New York Times
3. Most Infected Medical Journal: The Lancet
4. Worst Video: Channel 4, Jon Snow
5. Biggest Op-Ed Train Wreck: Sydney Morning Herald
6. Most Dishonest Photo: Jim Hollander, European Pressphoto Agency
7. Worst Blurring of Journalism and Advocacy: Haaretz
8. Most Insensitive Cartoon: The Guardian
9. Most Memorable Gaffe: CNN

The 2014 Dishonest Reporting Awards: Why the Gaza War Correspondents Won

What It All Means
Media coverage of Operation Protective Edge contributed to dramatic spikes in anti-Semitism in Europe, Australia, US campuses, South Africa, and South America. Britain alone saw a 500 percent increase.
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has been making a comeback as well.
And Israel refuses to cooperate with a UN inquiry led by William Schabas, a Canadian professor of human rights and international law who has his own axe to grind with Israel.
As 2014 draws to a close, all the players are drawing conclusions and moving forward. Hamas is already reconstructing terror tunnels, holding military exercises, and re-arming. The top US military leader, Gen. Martin Dempsey said the Pentagon was learning from the IDF how to minimize civilian casualties and deal with terror tunnels. And among other things, the IDF concluded that Hezbollah has probably dug cross-border tunnels.
Only time will tell what, if anything, Big Media has learned.

BBC chief: Anti-Semitism makes me question Jews’ future in UK

The director of BBC Television said rising anti-Semitism has made him question the long-term future for Jews in the UK.
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem on Sunday, Danny Cohen said the past year had been the most difficult for him as a Jew living in the United Kingdom.
“I’ve never felt so uncomfortable being a Jew in the UK as I’ve felt in the last 12 months. And it’s made me think about, you know, is it our long-term home, actually. Because you feel it. I’ve felt it in a way I’ve never felt before actually,” he said in a conversation with Channel 2’s anchor Yonit Levi.
Cohen went on: “And you’ve seen the number of attacks rise. You’ve seen murders in France. You’ve seen murders in Belgium. It’s been pretty grim actually. And having lived all my life in the UK, I’ve never felt as I do now about anti-Semitism in Europe.”
Cohen, who grew up and went to school in London — including to a Jewish elementary school — is a TV whiz kid. Still only 40, he was previously the controller of BBC1 TV, the youngest appointee to that post, before taking over a director of BBC Television last year. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Chanukah video night #8: Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs and Ted Leo - "Nes Gadol Haya Sham"

From Heeb:

Readers of Heeb probably know that we’re not overly fond of Hanukkah song parodies. That said, we’ll give Bangles guitarist Susanna Hoffs a pass since, in this case, she’s both parody’er, as well as the parody’ee.

At a recent performance by The Both (that would be Ted Leo and Aimee Mann), Hoffs joined her gentile pals onstage, adding some seasonally appropriate Jewishness to Leo and Mann’s Christmas Music tour. Sure, her reworked “Nes Gadol Haya Sham” lyrics to the Bangles’ “Walk Like An Egyptian” are kinda corny, but it’s damn near impossible not to crack a smile when Susanna starts to dance.

The article also links to an earlier 2007 NSFW performance by Hoffs as the rapping Chanukah fairy.

On December 20, A UK group called "Friends of Al Aqsa" started a campaign to boycott Coca Cola, with the hashtag "#NotInMyFridge," because it allegedly supports Israeli crimes, or something.

Their timing was exquisite.

From Reuters, December 22:

With Israel's approval, Palestinians began importing machinery on Monday to equip the Gaza Strip's first Coca Cola (KO.N) plant for an anticipated 2015 launch of operations.

Emad al-Hindi, director-general of the Palestinian National Beverage Company which produces the soft drink in the occupied West Bank, said 10 truckloads of machinery had arrived in Gaza via a crossing with Israel.

Israel confirmed it had allowed nine truckloads from Jordan to reach Gaza for an enterprise it hoped would provide jobs for hundreds of people in the coastal territory.

Hindi said he expected more equipment to be shipped from Germany and Turkey and hoped the machines would be installed at a location in central Gaza by March "so that we can launch operations before the end of 2015."

"The factory building is ready, lines of produce are ready," Hindi said, adding "we hope to be able to conclude all the stages without any obstacles."

Hindi estimated total investment would come to $20 million and hoped the factory would employ 360 Palestinians by 2016 and more at a later stage

This is not the first time that BDS proponents are acting contrary to what Palestinian Arabs actually want. Besides being against Sodastream, which employed 850 Arabs in the West Bank, we have seen BDSers call to boycott agricultural goods farmed by Palestinians and exported to Europe. Hell, Gazans even eagerly buy and eat Israeli Chanukah chocolate coins!

BDS proponents want to ensure that actual real Palestinians in the territories are jobless, poor and miserable. They are against anything Israel does to help ordinary Arabs in the WB and Gaza to prosper.

Why do they hate Palestinians so much?

Because real Palestinians are a roadblock to the BDS desire to destroy Israel!

To the BDS crowd, happy Palestinians are the enemy. Happy Palestinians don't blow themselves up to kill a couple of Jews. Happy Palestinians don't want their neighbors to shoot rockets to Israel. Palestinians who just want to work and to raise their families in dignity do not contribute the the overall goal of destroying the Jewish state.

Only angry, miserable Palestinians are assets to these haters. Because, to the BDS leaders, the only purpose Palestinians serve is as cannon fodder, as pawns to be manipulated. They are not human beings. Nothing makes the BDS crowd happier than photos of dead Palestinian kids because of the PR value.

So they raise money to supposedly help the Palestinians when in fact they want them all to die for their cause, preferably on camera.

This is why "win/win" is not in their vocabulary. If Israel gains, then by definition the people who are psychotically against Israel's existence lose.

And that goes double when both Israel and Palestinians win, as with the Gaza Coke plant - an initiative that Israel approved, that Hamas has no problem with, and that the "friends of Al Aqsa" bitterly oppose.

From Tehran Times:

The Palestinian ambassador to Tehran has underlined his countrymen’s enthusiasm for the materialization of the instructions given by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei to arm the West Bank meant to intensify fight against Israel.

“I would like to stress that the remarks of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution need to be materialized,” Ambassador Salah al-Zawawi said on Tuesday, the Fars news agency reported.

He said all Palestinians wish their land be equipped with weapons in a bid to be able to free the occupied territories from the hands of the Zionist regime, underlining that “arming the West Bank is of high priority”.

Zawawi said the Zionist regime is well aware that the countdown has started for its extinction. “The Zionist regime is an aggressor and a cancerous tumor which should be annihilated sooner or later.”

Mahmoud Abbas has said multiple times (in English) that he is not interested in an armed uprising and only wants "popular resistance" (which seems to include rocks thrown at car windshields, firebombs and small incendiary rockets.)

So either Abbas will sack al-Zawawi for insubordination, or he will continue to allow his diplomats to say what the real positions of the "state of Palestine" are while he continues to fool the Western world with his pretenses of non-violence.

Given that this is not the first time.that Zawawi has said words that seem at odds with Abbas' positions, that proves which of the two options Abbas has chosen.

12/23 Links Pt1: A Maccabean solution; PA officials: “Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours”‎

From Ian:

Jailed Palestinian leader blasts UN statehood bid

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti sharply criticized the Palestinian Authority on Monday and called to reword the bid submitted to the UN requesting recognition of a state and an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by 2017.
In a letter sent from Israeli prison, Barghouti said he supported the unilateral move to go to the UN but slammed the current bid as an “unjustified fallback which will have a very negative impact on the Palestinian position,” Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported.
The senior Fatah leader said any mention of land swaps with Israel must be removed and that the bid should focus on the major issues of settlement expansion, Jerusalem, and the blockade on Gaza.
“We must stop negotiating with ourselves uselessly,” he added.
Barghouti also said the Palestinian prisoners issue should take central place in the document. (h/t Elder of Lobby )

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinian voices show dissent over statehood resolution at UN

The Palestinian National Initiative, an independent political movement led by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, said the draft resolution includes “dangerous lapses” that compromise Palestinian demands.
The movement claimed that the PA leadership presented the draft resolution so as to have an excuse to avoid joining the International Criminal Court.
The movement criticized the resolution for “equating between Palestinians and Israel, ignoring the fact that one part has been occupying and repressing the other for the past 66 years.”
It also rejected the reference to Jerusalem as the capital of two states. This would pave the way for Israel to take most parts of the city and turn the Palestinian presence into a symbolic one, the movement said.

PA and Fatah: “Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, and Nazareth are ours”‎

The Palestinian Authority and Fatah continue to deny Israel's right to exist and present Israeli cities as "Palestinian." Recently, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi emphasized on Lebanese TV that "Haifa, Jaffa, Acre and Nazareth are Palestinian," and this "despite" the opinions of "the Americans and the Israelis":
Fatah Central Committee member, Tawfiq Tirawi: "Don't you dare think there is even a single Palestinian, whether he supports the two-state solution or another path, who would agree to these settlements being part of Israel, and that Haifa, Jaffa and Acre are not Palestinian. No. Haifa, Jaffa, Acre and Nazareth are Palestinian, despite the Americans and the Israelis."
[Al-Mayadeen TV (Lebanon), Dec. 14, 2014; posted on Tirawi's Facebook page]

Fatah official: Israeli cities "Haifa, Jaffa, Acre and Nazareth are Palestinian"

Arab League claims Israel spending $17b to "Judaize" Jerusalem

From Egypt Independent:

Israel has earmarked US$17 billion for the Judaization of Jerusalem, the holy city which both Palestinians and Israelis insist on as the capital of their states, an Arab League official said Monday.

“The attack on Jerusalem is very overwhelming ... Israel is in control of prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque,” Mohamed Sobeih, Assistant of the Arab League secretary general for Palestinian affairs, told Palestinian Al-Ray news agency. He urged for the immediate application of Jerusalem-related resolutions in consecutive Arab, Islamic and UN summits.

Just to give some perspective, the entire budget of Israel's government is about $70 billion.

The budget of Jerusalem's municipality is less than half a billion dollars.

You could give every man, woman and child in Jerusalem $20,000 and still have more left over than the current Jerusalem budget.

Too bad that there does not seem to be a single Arab who is willing to publicly call this guy an idiot. Because in a normal, healthy society, lies like this have consequences; but in the Arab world, they are swallowed whole.

In liberal pan-Arab daily Elaph, Mahdi Majid Abdullah writes:

With the beginning of the era of Internet sites and social networking I was lucky to get to know a Jew who lives in Israel, and I had the good fortune that he was of Kurdish origin who lived part of his childhood and his youth in Kurdistan.

...When I came to the European country where I live, I settled in the city inhabited by a large number of Jews and I got to know a Jewish family and which strengthened my relationship with other Jewish writers and journalists.

I personally learned from the Jews that it is no exaggeration to say that If you want to live a happy life then be like the Jews. You will learn from them splendid behaviors, morally you will learn how to control yourself and your instincts, learn to respect yourself and respect others and not to harm yourself or upset others, to love yourself and love others, you will learn to focus on your studies and your business, learn how to focus on your goals..., when you are with Jews you will avoid trivial things snd insted master the pursuit of what is good for you and what can benefit others.

Jewish families teach children from a young age on the proper goals and values and principles, which instill confidence and facilitate the way for him and fueled by tenderness and kindness and to make him know how to walk in the path of his life, so the Jew does not see failure in his life. Where Jews entered a city or a country they dominated them culturally and intellectually, politically and economically for the greater good at this place. There is no need to list many examples;just to know that the United States and Europe are successful was because of the Jews who have lived there, and in the eastern countries if we go back to the history books, we find the Arab and Islamic countries were living in affluence in all respects when the Jews inhabited them.

In European countries do not see the young Jew interested in meaningless things, while the young Muslim and Christian is interested in pursuing football supporting his club or national team, or gasping behind drinks and pursuing girls in the bars and nightclubs or on the streets. You find a Jew interested in the study or the economy or in the goal of particular benefit to himself and others. Of course, there are also creative and responsible Muslims and Christians, but compared with the Jews their proportions are negligible.

Dear reader, do you ever asked yourself why Jews are ahead and in control of the economy and politics and media world, but in the field of singing and dance and football you hardly see them?

Those who live in a European country certainly have noticed the lack of Jews mixing with people, and not gathering in bars and barely find somewhere special entertainment for Jews except some cultural centers and some of their own houses of worship, Those that say Jews are racist are wrong because the Jews' main purpose in life has a focus and organization and no time for the side conversations or cafes or chasing girls and young women and alcohol or recreational things that do little but to grant a false sense of temporary pleasure.

You do not see a Jew insult the validity of your religion and you do not hear from him a word of abuse towards any belief or religion or any nationality or any civilization; they have respect for themselves, respect for women and others. They do not ask you to give up your religion; in Israel you can find dozens if not hundreds of cultural centers and religious heritage centers that are government-backed and sponsored, with the knowledge that most of these centers do not coincide with thought, but no one objected to them and their religious freedom and cultural and expressions reserved for all patrons.

If an Arab had written this it would be amazing, but Abdullah is a Kurd. Even so, the fact that Elaph published it is remarkable.

The comments to this article are mixed.

Religion News service, Indy, NatGeo still don't know what Judaism's holiest spot is

You would think that the media would know by now.

Religion News Service:

Comedian Sarah Silverman made a rare appearance in the middle of a hot political dispute Thursday (Dec. 18) when she attended a Hanukkah menorah lighting alongside a group of Jewish feminists at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site.

The Independent (since corrected, via CiFWatch):

National Geographic:

It isn't that hard to find out the truth, even if you are a lazy reporter.

Pictorial Arab dictionary: "Desecration" (Poster)

12/22 Links Pt2: Top 10 Worst U.N. Decisions Of 2014; Police detain Gideon Levy in Samaria

From Ian:

Buzzfeed: Top 10 Worst U.N. Decisions Of 2014

8. U.N. Creates Biased Inquiry into Hamas-Israel War, Declares Israel Guilty in Advance
5. As 9/11 Truther Richard Falk Exits, U.N. Names His Wife and Co-Author to Top Human Rights Post
4. UNRWA Hands Rockets in Gaza Schools Back to Hamas Terrorists
3. U.N. Names Anti-Israel Judge to Head Gaza Inquiry
1. U.N. Adopts 20 Resolutions on Israel vs. 4 on Rest of World Combined
In 2014, the U.N. General Assembly adopted 20 resolutions condemning Israel, and only four on the rest of the world combined, being one on Syria, North Korea, Ukraine and Iran.
There were zero UNGA resolutions condemning gross and systematic abuses committed by China, Cuba, Egypt, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkey, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, nor on many other major perpetrators of grave violations of human rights. (h/t Yenta Press)

Terror victim hid Arab Zionist teen during Gaza war

It sounds like the plot of a novel. A Jewish tour guide who survived a Palestinian terror attack that left her Christian friend dead helped shelter an Arab teen who got death threats after voicing support for Israel’s summer operation in Gaza.
British-born Kay Wilson said that she helped hide Mohammad Zoabi throughout the summer war in Gaza, before he was able to flee to the United States in fear of his life.
Seventeen-year-old Zoabi, an Israeli Arab from Nazareth, was forced to leave the country after receiving death threats for posting a YouTube video harshly condemning the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by a Hamas-affiliated terror cell in June.
In the YouTube video, Zoabi, wrapped in an Israeli flag, called for the release of the three teens and urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop negotiating with Palestinian terrorists.
Zoabi, who is a distant relative of controversial Balad MK Hanin Zoabi, describes himself as an Israeli Zionist Arab Muslim. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

Police detain Gideon Levy of Ha'aretz in Samaria

Two Ha'aretz journalists – columnist Gideon Levy and photographer Alex Levac – were detained in the West Bank after they entered area A and allegedly cursed and spit at soldiers, the Judea and Samaria district police said on Monday afternoon. The pair were released after about three hours of detention.
According to police, at 1:04 p.m. officers received a call from the IDF saying that soldiers manning a checkpoint at the entrance to Tulkarm said they had detained Israelis who entered Area A, where the Palestinian Authority has full security and civil control, without a permit and while being checked by the soldiers they “confronted them, causing a provocation and spitting and cursing at them.”
A police cruiser was dispatched and officers detained Levy and Levac, taking them for questioning at Samaria subdistrict headquarters, under suspicion of violating the ban on entering area A and for attacking soldiers.
Israelis have been banned from entering area A since the beginning of the second intifada, under an IDF order, but Israeli Arabs typically come and go freely, especially on weekends, and the ban is for the most part not enforced on journalists traveling to the area for work. (h/t Elder of Lobby)

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The year is winding up and it is time to look over what we did over the past quarter.

As usual, we were quoted in a number of media outlets, like Algemeiner, Arutz-7, Breitbart, Jerusalem Post and The Tower. But let's look at some of the more important posts.

In October, a photo went viral on anti-Israel media showing a Jewish man screaming at an Arab woman. We showed the reason he was screaming - she had stolen his book of Psalms, and we showed the video of the event. (So far, our edit of the video has over 140,000 views.)

An anti-Israel libel was stopped in its tracks in 24 hours.

This quarter I spent a lot of time - 43 posts! - on showing, conclusively, that UNRWA teachers are teaching antisemitism and hate. UNRWA, while not officially acknowledging my posts, has been working overtime to hide the evidence I found. Moreover, I showed how UNRWA teachers were supporting terror and denying (or supporting) the Holocaust on social media and how UNRWA's major arguments against its critics were filled with falsehoods. The information is bubbling up to the mainstream, slower than I like but it is happening, and I am told that not only is my research being discussed at the highest levels of UNRWA but it is also making an impact with funders.

I also discussed how the history of a simple stamp says volumes about Palestinian nationalism, or the lack thereof.

I debunked a claim in two news outlets (The Daily Beast and the International Business Times) that the IDF sexually abused children. Tellingly, neither of them bothered to correct the false story.

I proved lies and deceptions in The New York Times a few times.

I proved Amnesty International's anti-Israel (and pro-Hamas) bias.

I was part of a group that showed that a "journalist" killed in Gaza was a terrorist, causing UNESCO to remove its tribute to him.

I revealed, over and over again, systematic antisemitism in the Arab world as well as Iran.

While Haaretz published countless pieces about how awful the draft "Jewish State" law was, I actually published the text so people can make up their own minds.

I showed that a B'Tselem "human rights" volunteer has a problem with Jews.

And this is only a small percentage of the things covered this quarter. My general rule is that if you don't learn something new from every one of my posts, I have failed.

I now have over 12,400 Twitter followers and over 3000 Facebook "Likes."

I am not the only person blogging at EoZ, though.

Mike Lumish has a nice fan base willing to get into long discussions on his thoughtful Sunday columns.

PreOccupied Territory's humor columns are often confused with reality. It is a hard job to satirize the Middle East when the truth is so utterly crazy.

And Ian does an incredible job with his twice daily linkdumps, never missing any important story and making my life difficult as I try to find original items to blog that he hadn't already covered.

All of this takes up a lot of time and money.

So if you find this blog to be an invaluable resource, as thousands of daily readers do, please consider donating to keep things going. The PayPal buttons on the right hand sidebar of this main page are the easiest way to donate or (better) to create a monthly subscription. Otherwise you can send Amazon gift cards.

As always, thanks for your support!